LOW, LOW, LOW (Psalm 142)

"God, can you hear me?" These satellite disks made me grateful that

prayer doesn't need such technology to access heaven!

(Part of an ongoing series on the 48 psalms commended for study during times of "feeling down," from pastor/counselor David Seamand's' book "Healing for Damaged Emotions.")

What do you say to God when you’re so spiritually and emotionally low that you don’t know what to say?  Welcome to Psalm 142, introduced by this note: “A maskil of David. When he was in the cave. A prayer.” A “maskil” is some sort of musical term. But the words “the cave” are an important clue. Psalm 57 (identified as a “miktam,” another music term) also says it’s for “when he [David] had fled form Saul into the cave.” That despairing time in David’s life is recorded in 1 Samuel 21-22. David had risen to be a hero in Saul’s royal court because of his military prowess and musical skills. But Saul had come to hate the man who’d succeed him instead of his own son Jonathan, and tried to kill David. In his escape, David ended up in an enemy town that wanted nothing to do with him. After all, he’d killed their hero giant, Goliath! On the run again, he ended up in a desert cave—homeless, hungry and friendless.  Was this how God treated His faithful followers?

GUT-WRENCHING PRAYING

As I read this psalm, I’m also hearing the despair of Psalms 42-43:

Why are you downcast, O my soul?

Why so disturbed within me? (42:5b, 11a; 43:5a)

Utterly alone in the wilderness, no doubt afraid to show his face outside, David faced hopelessness—and told God about it. Only imagination can describe his tone of voice—whether a hoarse whisper in the echoes of the cave, or bold shouts. But his despair spew in honest, hard words.

I cry aloud to the LORD, I lift up my voice to the LORD for mercy. I pour out my complaint before him; before him I tell my trouble. (vv. 1-2)

What’s the lesson here? That God can take it! We don’t have to crawl into Heaven’s throne room and say in a meek voice, “Any chance we could talk?” David complains from his tortured heart, “God, you know the mess I’m in. Evil men are out there, wanting to snare me. Everywhere I look, there’s no out. I’m cornered. Nobody cares about my life” (my paraphrase of vv. 3-5).

DARING TO HOPE

Maybe you’ve said something like this: “I’m in desperate need!” You’ve just quoted verse 6. Life couldn’t be any bleaker, and David wanted God to know it (as if He didn’t already). The soldiers Saul dispatched to find and kill David planned to thoroughly carry out their orders. “Rescue me from those who pursue me,” David cried, “for they are too strong for me” (v. 6b).

We may not be listening from a cave for the sounds of approaching hooves, but life can sometimes be “too strong” for us. A broken relationship, job loss, disaster, financial hardship, a loved one’s death, false accusation, wayward children—all of these and more can make us feel like David, ready to curl up in a cave and give up. But Psalm 142 isn’t just about despair. It’s about looking up to God when you’re down:

Set me free from my prison, that I may praise your name.

Then the righteous will gather about me because of your goodness to me. (v. 7)

David knew God was capable of turning things around. If God didn’t, then He had lied in having David anointed as the next king. But stuck in a blind alley, David knew his impossible “rescue” could do only one thing: bring glory to God.  That’s a big change from the “glory” that came to a lad who slew a giant, then grew to a strapping young man who outclassed all of Saul’s other warriors.

“Low, low, low” isn’t God’s “forever” plan for His own. We may have to go through those “dark caves of crying” at some time in this fallen world. But someday our Redeemer will come. The righteous will gather about HIM, and—like the end of this psalm says--praise Him because of His goodness to us.

GOD ALONE (Psalm 62)

This pumpkin exhibited at our local fair weighed a whopping 611 pounds.

But it wasn't close to the world pumpkin record of 2,424.6 pounds,

grown by a man in Germany in 2016.

Part of an ongoing series on the 48 psalms recommended for "down times" by counselor/pastor David Seamands (author of Healing of Damaged Emotions).

By just a few days, this posting misses the date important to the Peanuts cartoons about the “Great Pumpkin.” In them, Linus hangs out in darkness in the garden on Oct. 31, certain that the Great Pumpkin will appear. Meanwhile, his little friends scoff at his misguided belief system.

It’s funny, but sad for the deeper message: that God is not some “Great Pumpkin” spirit. You can't put Him in a box (or even in a pumpkin shell!). In this psalm, David affirms his faith in a God who is infinitely strong and constantly available in difficult times. Bible scholars say the psalm was probably written early in his reign (when Saul’s supporters were still around) or later, when David’s son Absalom was trying to usurp his father’s throne. David was feeling weak and vulnerable, a “leaning wall” or a “tottering fence” (v. 3) as his enemies try to topple him (v. 4).

FEELING DOWN

“Feeling down” and a sense of helplessness often coexist. But the strengthening truth of this psalm is that we need to look up when we’re feeling down. In almost identical refrains in verses 1 and 5, David declares his trust in God to bring victory over his enemies:

My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him.

He alone is my rock and my salvation;

He is my fortress, I will never be shaken. (vv. 1-2, boldface added)

Verses 5-6 are similar except for a significant word change:

He is my fortress, I will not be shaken (v. 6)

David’s confidence grew from the weaker “never” to the stronger “not” as he affirmed God’s protection and help in his life. He went from verbalizing how he’d find faith in God, to actually “owning” God’s promise to hold him up. Three times he refers to God as his rock (vv. 2, 6, 7). God is the unshakeable ground on which David stands, and a refuge above and away from petty trouble.

LOOKING UP

So, how does that translate to today? We’re not trying to keep one rock mound away from blood-thirsty enemies. But our enemies can attack us with abusive words and actions that might make us question whether God sees it all and will bring us through it. David has an answer for that:

Lowborn men are but a breath, the highborn are but a lie;

If weighed on a balance, they are nothing; together they are only a breath.(v. 9)

The answer to feeling outnumbered and unappreciated is this: look at it from God’s perspective.  From the One who alone is your rock, salvation, and fortress.  He is strong. loving, and fair. Thus David’s conclusion:

Surely you will reward each person according to what he has done. (v. 12)

Feel like you’ve heard that before?  Go to Romans 2:6-7, which gives a preview of the final judgment when earth-history ends:

God will give to each person according to what he has done.  To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life.  But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.

Feeling oppressed? Shut out by mean and abusive people? Put these words somewhere you’ll see them throughout the day, to help you focus on God’s strength and help: Rock, fortress, salvation.

ENTRAPPED (Psalm 51)

Critters dining on our tomatoes and strawberries turned

out to be RATS! Strands of thread wrapped around peanut

butter on the trap caught several. Sin is like that--it

may feel or taste good at first, but watch out!

(A series on 48 psalms recommended by pastor/counselor David Seamands for getting through depression.)

If somebody ever did a Bible version called “The Happy Scriptures,” this is one psalm they’d omit. Ditto the other seven “penitential” psalms (6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, 143) in which the writer admits his shortcomings. They almost groan with agony over spiritual realities pulled out of the sludge of life. To be honest, I’ve resisted writing about Psalm 51.  Maybe it’s a déjà vu, all the muck today’s media is reporting about sexual sin in high places. My church recently offered a meeting for men willing to admit they had problems with sexual issues. I thought of the courage it would take for someone just to walk in the door for that….

NO SECRETS

But here, David is walking through the door to a public confession of what was whispered about throughout his nation. He lusted after a woman, got her pregnant, then had her husband killed to cover up his act. It didn’t work. Sin is a termite in the foundations of our lives. It’s a rat trap laced with peanut butter. We can’t ignore it forever. If we try to overlook it or explain it away, its stench grows. Alongside, depression festers.

It’s not just sexual issues. We’re entrapped whenever we dare cross boundaries of morality or propriety, someone is hurt, and no confession or restitution is made. It covers the range from adultery and murder (David’s traps) to physical or emotional abuse. Get mad, call someone a wretched name in anger, and never apologize?  Abuse. Sin.

Bible teachers point out that David covered the bases when he described his sins with three different Hebrew words that English translates this way (vv. 1-2):.
“Transgressions”—crossing the law’s boundaries.
“Iniquity”—yielding to the twisted sin nature.
“Sin”—missing the mark God set for him.
 “Purge me with hyssop,” he says (v. 7), referring to a bushy plant used to sprinkle blood on sacrifices for sin.  “Wash me,” he adds. He felt plain old dirty in his heart. “Create in me a clean heart…renew a right spirit” (v. 10). “Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation” (v. 12)..

PEACE OFFERINGS DON'T SUFFICE

To feel better about ourselves, we don’t have to go to some religious shrine and perform rites over and over, hoping some god will show favor and get us out of the hole. Depression may be symptomatic of a need for spiritual heart surgery: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me” (v. 10). It’s not about peace offerings.  David was wealthy enough to keep the temple slaughter house busy for years with offerings! It’s about a broken spirit that says, “I was wrong. You, God are right.”

"Avoid every kind of evil," says 1 Thessalonians 5:22. That includes sexual sin, relational discord, anger and bitterness, laziness and selfish entitlement. Deliberate disobedience leads to a muddied testimony and ministry, and opens a back door for depression to sneak in. 

David knew only the Old Testament sacrificial system, but he also knew that only God could take him out of his angst and depression. On this side of the cross, we look to a Hill where the Son of God was murdered, weighted by every sin in the book, paving the way for us to say, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” He who sees into the darkest corners of a rebellious heart is also the One ready to transform it. “Cleanse me,” David pleaded (vv. 1-7). “Restore me” (vv. 8-12). “Use me” (vv. 13-19).

HOLD ON TO THE 'YET' (Psalms 42-43)

This pier on the Columbia River symbolized for me

the emotions of being launched into unknowns

(An ongoing series on the 48 psalms listed as “recommended reading” for times of depression, as listed in counselor/pastor David Seamands’ book Healing for Damaged Emotions.)
Despair and hope thread through this duo of psalms, which scholars say should be read as one. Their link is the thrice-repeated refrain:

Why are you downcast, O my soul, Why so disturbed within me within me? Put your hope in God, For I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. (42:5, 11; 43:5)

The phrase “been there, done that” rings through my heart when I read these psalms. Bible teachers say the author (attributed to Korah’s sons, who served in the tabernacle) was apparently away from his work and home, possibly north toward Mt. Hermon. He admits to crying day and night (42:3), suggesting some real physical and spiritual lows—yes, depression.  He misses his temple work, which kept him in an attitude of worship and joy (v. 4). He’s been subjected to ridicule by people who mock, “Where is your God?” (42:3, 10). Such people are ungodly, deceitful, wicked, his enemy (43:1-2).

It’s hard to live for God when your assaulted by so many negatives. He chose a picturesque simile when he compared his feelings to a deer that’s panting with thirst (42:1).

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? (42:2)

I know people who live in the past, in “glory years” when their skills brought approval and admiration.  But life isn’t static. There are deaths, moves, job and financial changes, family adjustments, or health crises--and if we can’t adjust to our new “normal,” we’re candidates for depression. We can’t expect to forever “meet God” in the old comfortable and maybe stale ways.

STUCK IN THE PAST

The writer opens his song pining for the “good old days”—when he led worship processions in Jerusalem. But he ends it with a vital truth: that God can be worshipped wherever we are, in new ways as He grows us spiritually. For the psalm-writer, the new place is finding God’s light and truth where God has placed the believer (43:3).

Circumstances change. People change. Churches change! Hopes are raised, hopes dashed. But the constant is God, who never changes but whose character would take more than a lifetime to discover and savor.

That’s why I latch on to the little word “yet” in these two psalms. I can rehash my troubles and questions, but at the end—in the “yet” of life—I need to come back to praising Him, claiming Him as my joy and delight (43:4).

It’s a verse worth writing out on a 3x5 card and putting where you’ll see it regularly, maybe next to your computer or the bathroom mirror:

Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

ZIP THE LIP? REALLY? (Psalm 39)

Part of an ongoing series on the 48 psalms recommended by pastor-counselor David Seamands for people struggling with depression.

When things don’t go our way, the natural reaction is to gripe to others about it. But David struggled with a “spiritual muzzle,” if you will. He didn’t want to sin by complaining about God.  He lived long before the advice of the apostle Paul: “In everything give thanks” (see Philippians 4:6-7). But the David who wrote Psalm 38 was miserable in every way—sick and tired of it. If we’d been in his sandals without reliable medical help, we’d probably also complain that God hadn’t vaccinated us from the world’s woes. 

David says he tried to tame his tongue and muzzle his mouth “as long as the wicked are in my presence” (v. 1). But without good news to share, his self-control burst. Some testimony his “woe is me” showed unbelievers!  But right away. David reflects on wisdom gleaned from saints who preceded him. He quotes Moses from Psalm 90 about the brevity of life, then brings up Job questioning why God was so heavy-handed with him (Job 13:21). In other words,  David implies that he’s not the first to experience how life is no bed of roses, even for those who love and follow God.

PERSPECTIVE

By this time, David’s getting to some essential truths: that we weren’t created for this world. “Faith” is not about getting what we want now. It’s “being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1)—what ancients from Abel on through Abraham, the patriarchs, Moses, the judges and prophets, and martyrs of the faith lived for and died by. We’re in prep for that heavenly “city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God” (Hebrews 11:10).

Must we “zip the lip” when we’re hurting? It’s not a “yes” or “no” answer.  We’re to watch out for complaining to others (especially unbelievers) about our jobs, money or personal situations when doing so causes these people to think God can’t take care of us. It’s wrong to gripe when it comes out as blaming God. Unbelievers will jump at anything to discredit the love and wisdom of God.  And marginal believers won’t be helped at all!  

Tell your woes privately to God?  Absolutely. Ask Him for perspective, strength and perseverance. He promises to supply. Seek God-honoring counsel from those equipped through life experience or training? Yes. You may need help in achieving “attitude correction.” As Moses affirmed in this psalm that David paraphrased:

Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,

That we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,

For as many years as we have seen trouble. (Psalm 90:14-15)

Finally, in the “for what it’s worth department,” I wrote this note in the margin of my Bible beside Psalm 90:12: “Kum Ba Yah,” plus a music note. The old camp song (“come by here”) seemed to match David’s plea, “Hear my prayer, O Lord.” 

DIAGNOSIS NEEDED (Psalm 38)

(An ongoing series on the 48 psalms suggested as “recommended reading” for times of depression, as listed in counselor-pastor David  Seamands’ book Healing for Damaged Emotions.)
“Sick as a dog”: the expression goes back to the early 1700s, when dogs weren’t pampered pals their owners took to veterinarians. If a dog was too sick to get well on its own, nature took its course. Not so today, when pets visit vets not only for illness and wound care, but also for wellness checks and vaccinations, dental care, neutering, and more.  

The “sick as a dog” idea has even come to the floral industry, which offers a special bouquet for somebody having a “ruff” time. You’ve guessed it: a cheery yellow and white bouquet with get-well balloon.  Oh yes, the white flowers are arranged to look like a dog, and there’s a bandage on one of its “paws.”  Only $55.

In Psalm 38, David would have probably called himself “sick as a dog.”  Given the primitive state of medicine in his times, he likely was sick often. You get a glimpse of medicine in his last days, when he was so old and cold that there just weren’t enough blankets to keep him warm. His caretakers’ solution: a beautiful young woman as a real-life heating pad. He was failing so badly that there was no hanky panky (1 Kings 1:1-4).

But at the time of this psalm, earlier in his life, we’re left to guess the medical diagnosis for the foul and festering wounds he attributed to his foolishness (v.5) or being bent over and racked with pain (v. 6, NLT). Nor do we have a medical name for “my loins are full of inflammation” (v. 7), or verse 10’s panting heart, failing strength, and dimming eyes. He was so sick that friends and relatives avoided him (v. 11). He had numerous “vigorous enemies” who hated and slandered him (v. 19-20),  adding to his emotional burden.

David would have had a full medical chart, but he identified his biggest problem as sin-sickness. The psalm begins with an appeal for God’s grace:

O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath,
For your arrows have pierced me, and your hand has come down upon me. (vv. 1-2)
My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear. (v. 4)

I confess my iniquity; I am troubled by my sin. (v. 18)

The Bible describes David as having a heart for God (1 Samuel 13:14), and when serious illness slowed him down, he became introspective about his relationship with his Creator.

Sickness has a way of reminding you of eternity.  Despite good medical care, I am feeling the downward pull of aging.  Serious illness seems to hit me more often and harder. Two recent illness that lasted weeks (including pneumonia) reminded me that I won’t live forever on earth.  I faced again the question: am I ready to meet the Lord?  That’s why I “get” Psalm 38.  When physical illness or the downward pull of negative people become a burden, I seek the Lord’s perspective. David’s prayer becomes mine:

…be not far from me, O My God,

Come quickly to help me, O Lord, my Savior. (v. 22)

The encouraging news is that God is not far away. He’s behind the scenes of medical treatment.  But He’s also in the shadows when illness shuts me away for a time, ready to listen to my heart.

GROAN--HOW MUCH LONGER? (Psalm13)

Part of a continuing series on 48 psalms that speak to “feeling down.”

Stuck in a thorny situation!  That’s the main complaint of Psalm 13, that David wrote during one of his many “feeling hopeless” times.  Four times he wails, “How long?” (my paraphrase):

*How long—forever?---will you forget about me, God?

*How long will it seem that You, God, have hidden Your face?

*How long must  I deal with negative and sad thoughts?

*How long will the enemy seem to have the upper hand?

What I like about this psalm is that David is talking to God  about his serious doubts. He’s not giving up his faith, although it’s a bit ragged right now. We don’t know his precise circumstances but he sounds like he’d come to the end of his rope, again, in staying a step ahead of King Saul and his murderous desperados.

The things that put me in a funk aren’t as life-threatening as David’s. But at different times in my life I have run into spiritual mountains I cannot scale, deep river gorges I cannot cross—except for God.

 But the big “BUT” is the word to hang on:

But I trust in your unfailing love; My heart rejoices in your salvation. 

I will sing to the LORD for he has been good to me.

David’s saying, “We have a history together, God.  You’ve helped me in the past. First of all, I thank you for the gift of salvation that allows me to be in relationship with You and trust You. Then I just need to praise You.  Where’s my harp? That’s how I express my ‘love language’ to God. I’ll sing a song that praises God’s goodness.  That may not solve my problems immediately, but it will keep my focus on God, who rescues and helps me.”

Thorns are part of life.  But even a cactus can put out a blossom, like a reminder of God’s help even when life seems sticky for much too long.

RESCUE ME! (PSALM 6)

These are called "Knockout Roses" and are a hedge variety.

I decided they were an appropriate illustration for 

the month I got "knocked out" by pneumonia!

T

Today's entry begins a series on psalms to read when you feel down, as recommended by David Seamands in his book Healing for Damaged Emotions (Victor, 1981). 

Pneumonia recently claimed a month of my life.  I woke up one day just feeling “off.”  Then came chills and a high fever, body aches including a horrific headache, no appetite, and finally a nasty cough.  After a week, my husband took me into our “walk in” clinic.  The doctor who listened to my chest said it sounded like pulling Velcro apart.  “You have pneumonia,” she said.  An X-Ray confirmed it. Her choice for an antibiotic (given this was my second bout with pneumonia in two years) had some scary side effects.  But I lived. 

When I read the opening of Psalm 6 after this experience, I wondered what a modern doctor would have diagnosed for David’s illness.  He was faint, his bones in agony.  He was totally worn out and emotionally in the pits.  And depressed—so much so that his pillow become a sponge for copious tears. 

My pillow got wet from an ice bag, but David’s tears are a hint that his illness was emotional, too.  Tears come easily when we’re at the end of ourselves.

The psalm’s turning point is verse 8:

Away from me, all you who do evil, for the Lord has heard my weeping.

The Lord has heard my cry for mercy; the Lord accepts my prayer. (v. 9)

Just when David wrote this psalm isn’t known. He had his share of “down times” as he tried to elude the murderous intents of mad King Saul.  His physical life and destiny were in jeopardy. He faced utter hopelessness—except for the Lord.  When David cried out for mercy, the words of his heart weren’t bouncing off the cave ceiling.

The Lord has heard....the Lord accepts. I’ve highlighted those verses in my Bible. I need their reminder that when I face bewildering events and hostile people, I am not alone! I may not see the answers right away, but God is at work—in me, and in my circumstances. 

RX FOR DUMP DAYS

This white rose in my garden, about to open, reminds me of how Jesus 

presented us with an example of a life of purity

My reading pile the last few years has included a number of books on mental health issues as I seek to understand problems that people I care about are going through.  The books have reminded me that “bad stuff” and trauma are part of our fallen condition. I find myself saying, where would we be without the Lord? 

In re-reading David Seamands’ Healing for Damaged Emotions (Victor Books, 1981), I again appreciated his counsel for dealing with depression. He noted that that Martin Luther (the great Protestant reformer of 500 years ago) and Samuel Brengle (19^th century Salvation Army commissioner and teacher on holiness) both struggled with depression—and both found praise one way of counteracting the negative pull on their lives. Seamands said that when Brengle struggled with feeling God’s presence or hope in prayer, he’d thank God for simple things, like the leaf on a tree or the beautiful wing of a bird.  Reading that helped me realize that my own “Thank you, God” every-day prayers—for simple things like this beautiful rose, one of the first to bloom in our yard—were acceptable and  healing forms of worship.

Seamands also had this advice: “Lean heavily on the power of God’s Word”  (p. 129).  Although God can use any portion of scripture to help people, he likes to recommend that people read the psalms. A whole range of depression emotions come out in psalms—in fact, he said, 48 of the 150 psalms express depression. To people struggling with depression, Seamands often gives out a list of the 48 to read and think about. Now, some people may find that depressing!  But it’s not.  It’s encouraging that God led the writers to be brutally honest about how they felt, and to share how they found their way up and out.  Psalms are real.

In 2014 (January to October)  I shared my “Top Fifty” psalms in this blog.  Seamands’ list and mine overlap at times.  Starting next week, and over the next few months, I’m hoping an honest look at the psalms that Seamands selected for the “dump days” (when you feel down in the dumps or feel like dumping on God) will help you as they will me.

Making ‘Psense’ of Psalms—Psalms 42-43: Hope

Sunset on a stormy day--photographed at Moscow, Idaho--
an appropriate visual for spiritual hope in life's dark times

Part of a continuing series on Psalms.
 “Well, they have ‘down-in-the-dumps’ right,” I reflected after reading Psalms 42 and 43. At some time, I’d probably whined my own version of the psalms’ refrain: “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted ["disturbed" in NIV] in me?” (42:5, 11; 43:5).  I was the guest of honor at my personal pity party. Then the refrain’s conclusion grabbed me with its remedy for being down-in-the-mouth: “Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.”  The “cure” for those downcast, “poor me” times was turning attention from myself to the hope I have in the Lord. These psalms need to be read together. Indeed, in early Hebrew manuscripts (before the assignment of chapter-and-verse headings), they were linked. Attributed to the “sons of Korah” (temple musicians), there’s no historical subtitle. But the imagery and intense language transcend time as they speak to us today, particularly when we feel depressed.

THIRSTY

Psalm 42 opens with a picture of desperate thirst: “As the hart [deer] panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.” Unlike camels, whose fatty humps help them survive long periods in desert terrain, deer must have regular access to water. I live in “high desert” with miles and miles of rocky scrublands, bisected by a life-giving river. The highway along the river is a death trap for deer trying to get to water. Despite warning signs for drivers, deer still get hit. When I see a deer carcass while traveling, I’m reminded of Psalm 42 and its truth through this image that our true spiritual survival depends on sating our thirst for “the living God” (42:2). 

Spiritual opposition can heighten our thirst. The psalmist tells of non-believers who scoff, “Where is thy God?” (42:3). Deceitful and unjust people jeer the believer (43:1). The psalmist also pines over missing the festive worship at the temple in Jerusalem (42:4). Worship in those days involved processions, dancing and singing.    

LONESOME

Some scholars think the psalm’s author may have been far away, near Mount Hermon, about a hundred miles from Jerusalem as the crow flies. Though separated from the temple worship with all its festive trappings, he found there a new way to connect with God. He refers to Hermon and a lesser hill, Mizar, plus what might be the cascading headwaters that eventually drain to the Jordan (42:6, 7).  He also senses God’s power and plan in the cycle of day and night (42:8). What we today call “natural revelation” reminds him that he can worship God even  away from the temple. Even today, people find special spiritual encouragement by simply getting away to reflect on God’s creative power.

Thinking about God’s attributes encouraged the psalmist. Embedded in both Psalms 42 and 43 are numerous names for the works and character of God. He is “the living God” (42:2, a phrase found in another yearning-for-God psalm, number 84).  He is “my God” (42:6, 11: 43:4), with the pronoun “my” indicating a personal connection to this great God of all.  He is “the LORD” (v. 8), rendered in small capitals in English Bible translations to indicate the name that Jews considered so holy that they would not speak or write it.  We know it as YHWH or “Jehovah.” The psalmist also addresses God as “God of my life” (42:8), suggesting submission.  He is “God my rock” (42:9), a solid and reliable God, a term that shows up in nearly twenty other psalms. He is “God of my strength” (43:2), the source for “keeping on.”  He is “God my exceeding joy” (43:3), who will bring me out of that “downcast” condition. 

Even before studying this psalm, I had begun a practice of meditating on the names and attributes of God.  When problems kept me awake at night, I started going through the alphabet, recalling the names of God that gave me courage and encouragement.  I considered Him as the “Almighty One,” my Burden-bearer, my Compassionate Comforter—and on and on. By “Z,” peace and sleep would usually come. The practice reminded me that God, in the fullness of his deity, is far greater than any problem I might face.

FACE-BRIGHTENER

The last part of the psalms’ thrice-repeated refrain also reminded me of God’s care in difficult experiences: “Hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.” One more recent translation renders this “my Savior and my God” (NIV). The idea is that the God who lifts our saddened faces to show us His profound love is indeed the One who “saves” us from this despondency.

For me, the refrain’s key word is “hope.”  The apostle Paul reminded us “we rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Romans 5:2). He emphasized that life’s tribulations can lead us, in God’s plan, to hope that never disappoints (“maketh not ashamed,” Romans 5:5 in KJV).

Psalms 42 and 43 are no longer the “despondency” psalms for me.  Yes, they describe someone who is downhearted.  But the psalms’ refrains don’t leave me stuck on “downcast.”  They remind me to hang on to hope. As John Stott remarked in Favorite Psalms (Baker, ’88, ’03, p. 50): “The cure for depression is neither to look in at our grief, nor back to our past, nor round at our problems, but away and up to the living God.”

Next week: Psalm 46.